Dull story. There is no tension.

The plot is fine: girl runs away to her aunt on idillic island to get away from cheating boyfriend. Aunt thinks of a way to give girl back her self-confidence (through an advent calendar filled with tasks).

But there was no build up; all the plot points were quickly resolved. From one conversation to the next the characters saw what they had been doing wrong. That made for a rather boring read and made it hard to engage with any of the characters.

I'm docking a full star for Holly overreacting when Finn had not opened the suitcase when he said to her he had. The man has been avoiding dealing with his grief for five years. Did she really think he was going to sort it all out the night she unlocked the suitcase for him? And she's supposed to be this deep and understanding creature?

I read an ARC through Netgalley.